A Window Into the Negotiations Between The American Academy of Pediatrics and Defeat Autism Now in 2008

On Wednesday, JB Handley wrote a piece for Age of Autism called AAP’s Errol R. Alden, MD: The Worst CEO in America, Looking to Target “Vaccine Opponents” and “Celebrities”. In it, he chastened the leadership of the American Academy of Pediatrics for their vaccine/autism stance and focusing in on the AAP CEO Dr. Errol Alden.

In the comments section of the post, Paul Robinson, Alden's brother in law, responded to Handley, disclosing that he has a child with ASD, and claiming that Handley and Jenny McCarthy's group, Generation Rescue, had sabotaged the relationship between AAP and DAN!, that was burgeoning in 2008, by criticizing AAP too harshly. Handley responded with another post the following day called, "Dr. Errol Alden, CEO of the AAP, has a Nephew with Autism", in which he addresses Robinson's comments.

Handley expresses a sentiment, which I share, that references the difficulty of the idea that victims of malpractice should be deferential to those who have caused life long damage to children, because those public health officials are too sensitive to be criticized for their malpractice.

He then points Robinson back to the actual problem, which is that the American Academy of Pediatrics, under Alden's leadership, is encouraging physicians to commit widespread malpractice, and away from the fake smokescreen problem that the AAP is trying to distract the world with, the fact that parents and minority physicians are complaining about the actual problem.

So now that this is being put out in the open, I think it is appropriate to ask, what happened in 2008? As I am witness to a small piece of the puzzle, I will share what I know here.

I was in attendance at the April 2008 DAN conference in Cherry Hill. The month before, the Polings had announced that Hannah had been paid for her vaccine induced autism, Julie Gerberding had been forced to admit on CNN that vaccines can cause autism in children with mitochondrial dysfunction, Jenny McCarthy had announced the "Green our Vaccines" rally, the AAP had announced that it was going to work with ARI/DAN in treating autism, and Jenny McCarthy went head to head with the AAP on Larry King in an explosive interview.

Two days later, the DAN! conference started. It was jammed with people. During the conference, Misty Hiatt, a mother from Florida, stood up and told the crowd that her daughter Madison had also been paid by the VICP for her vaccine induced encephalopathy/autism. And the AAP had sent a group, lead by Dr. Louis Cooper, one of the inventors of the Rubella vaccine.

It was a charged weekend to say the least. On the last day, I sat in the back of the ballroom and somewhere in the middle of Sid Baker's speech, the fact that what had been done to my child, had been done to my child, washed over me and I started crying. I just sat in the back and cried quietly for an hour or so... happy to be in the back at a table next to the sound board by myself.

As the conference ended, I stayed put and watched Dr. Cooper talk with a woman at the front of the room and Stan Kurtz and a few others, waiting to see if Stan would be alone. I had been introduced to him once and hoped that he would give me a little bit of information on Cooper and the AAP's reaction to the conference. While was waiting, Dr. Cooper walked to the back of the room and took a seat about ten or fifteen feet away from me and waited. After a minute, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel, DAN doc and Jenny McCarthy's co-author, pulled a chair around to face Cooper, sat down and asked what he thought.

As you might imagine, I stayed put, closed the blog post that I had begun writing on my impressions of the conference, opened a clean document and began taking notes on the conversation.

About five minutes later, Stan Kurtz joined them and the three talked openly as the room cleared until it was just the four of us.

Cooper lead most of the conversation, he was on the enthusiastic side about what he had seen and heard. Not ecstatic, but I was encouraged an that he seemed much more into it than I would have expected. I would expect that he would have played it more cool and close to the vest. On the contrary, he seemed to be very honest and speaking freely from the heart.

Kartzinel and Kurtz did more listening than talking. They were both very gentile with him, asked good questions that got to the point of the matter with out being aggressive at all.

These are the notes I took as they talked:

My notes on a conversation overheard between Dr. Jerry Kartzinel DAN! doctor, Dr. Louis Cooper representing the American Academy of Pediatrics and Stan Kurtz, immediately following the DAN! Conference on April 6, 2008

All information is directly from Dr. Louis Z. Cooper unless otherwise noted.

Dr. Cooper came into this when Stan Kurtz called Cooper and Jenny was “raising hell”. It was time to “learn about DAN!… and now the current academy leadership and I are here at DAN!.”

Cooper noted with some surprise that “the doctors in the room are our doctors”, meaning AAP doctors. He expressed concern (for several years now) for the loss of trust from parents. He posed the question, “How do we move this forward and get rid of the appearance of combativeness?”

Dr. Cooper mentioned his Rubella and HIV experience a lot. He was quite rooted in those experiences and might/maybe using that model a little too much.

On his role in the 1964 Rubella epidemic:

He took lab from Belleview with him (to Cold Creek? I am not sure where.)

When he was working on HIV, Jim Olestine called him and said, “We’ve got these kids… we need a pediatrician to look at this.”

Cooper said, “That was the second crisis in my life as far as disease epidemic. This is the third.”

Kartzinel asked Cooper what his recommendations for approaching this should be.

Cooper said, “We need to quickly pull together and have a task force and committee.”

Diagnostic tests, definitions, clear treatment protocols were what worked for Rubella.

“This is a multi system disease, a multisystem syndrome. You guys know that. It also has ethical issues, mental health issues, GI issues, public health issues, epidemiological issues, financial issues, insurance issues…”

Cooper says he will recommend that the AAP make a task force for this.

"What I want to include that’s different is…". (could not hear the end of the sentence)

Drug companies have taken over health and there has been hope that health consumers would take that back. “This group represents the best of that”.

He wants to assemble a group place for exchange of ideas and beliefs that would include academy education programs.

“The tool kit is a great start, but that let’s take it to the next step.”

Kartzinel: “What is that step?” Jerry suggests that, ‘If the leaders in each field say, this is a problem, then it becomes real.’ “If the leaders in the GI field say, “we recognize this as a problem”, that would go so far. Then docs would be free to explore the GI track.”

In reference to the pediatrician who stood up in her community and was ostracized, investigated and left the AAP, and who broke down in tears with Stan, Cooper said that that sort of thing should not be happening. He spoke with compassion toward her.

Kartzinel mentioned the Boston ’06 GI meeting that AS sponsored. It was a very distinguished group. What AAP did was provide AS with (could not hear this part) … “But there was no AAP logo” and no official sanction.

In discussing how to get DAN! theory and practice accepted, Cooper said: “Rubella advancement was accepted because”:
1. Two years after diagnostic test
2. “I was at a prestigious institution”
3. “We had the backing of world leaders”

People who were movers and shakers elite and fashion and entertainment industries opened doors for them, and from them he learned a lot about making things happen.

The term “Developmental Disabilities” was coined by congress because of the efforts of a few powerful men. Harvey Firestone had a child with CP and President of ABC and Kennedy’s sister – they talked congress into the Developmental Disabilities Services Act.

“These were accidents of politics that have impact. HIV had a different story. You have a different story.”

“I’m concerned about immunization policy and how you protect immunization.”

“I chaired a CDC blue ribbon panel for Julie Gerberding. We wrote at report and that report got buried. And then Jenny and the Polings came along, God bless them, they have raised so much hell.”

“You are helping me and what I need to do. It has engaged me at a level that I would not have been engaged in.”

Kartzinel: “How do we move forward?”

Cooper: “You have a body of work that will provide receptors with the academy.”

Jerry then shared the problems they have had with submitting research and told about his rejection from one publication. He explained that they returned it with strange objections, “They said, ‘You had no control group.’ Of course I had no control group, it was a case series, it was written write there.”

Cooper: Did you send to pediatrics?

Kartzinel said no, that he didn’t even try.

Cooper: Send it to pediatrics.

They talked about Wakefield.

Cooper: He came out with speculation about splitting the vaccine with no data, and then his failure to disclose poisoned the well.

“My colleagues have a self righteousness.”

No one does controlled measures when they are making observations.

Kartzinel: Is a fully vaccinated group of children at age 4 as healthy as an unvaccinated group of 4 year olds?

(Up until this point in the conversation, Cooper has been outgoing and engaged. When Kartzinel ask this question, Cooper starts to draw into himself a bit.)

Kartzinel: You can’t start out doing a study of vaccinated v. unvaccinarted children because of the ethical problems, but you can do it in primates.

Jerry then tells him about the vaxed v. unvaxed primate study about to begin.

Cooper: “Is there any reason to give Hep B vaccine at birth”? (said as if he is seriously questioning why we are doing it.)

Kartzinel: University of Pittsburgh veterinarian, phase two will be done in Seattle.

Here Cooper raised some question which Kartzinel takes to mean that he is worried about cost, and said that the study is already fully funded and that people are already in place for the study.

Kartzinel didn’t outright invite him to be a part of the study, but left the door open for Cooper to say he wanted AAP involvement. Cooper didn’t bite and was trying to get away from the study idea. Obviously hit a nerve and was outside of his comfort zone.

Cooper: “The public trust has been my major preoccupation in the last few years”. (Cold Spring outlined the problem and made some recommendations?)

One was to work on communication strategies – for pediatricians not be demeaning. Another was a large investment in the safety of vaccines, “not trying to cover up”.

Stan: what do we do from here… what are the objectives?

Cooper: “I want to reflect on in it. I will try to make this attractive to a cross disciplinary task force.”

No single individual should represent the academy.

“That’s how I won rubella. I learned pediatrics.”

Stan: “Parents here have learned pediatrics.”

Louis Z Cooper and Stan Kurtz at DAN! 2008
Photo by Christine Zichittella-Heeren

Amazing to know this conversation took place, isn’t it?

At this point, hotel staff came in and began stacking the chairs so we all moved out of the ballroom. Kurtz, Kartzinel and Cooper walked off together and I hopped into a cab to the train station. On the way home I wrote this cautiously optimistic post: The American Academy of Pediatrics Shows Up in Autism Treatment

I wrote that “it was my understanding that AAP thought…” and never hinted at all that I had heard, because I didn’t want to carpet bomb the delicate process that was underway between AAP and DAN/Team Jenny. What I did do was offer AAP guidelines on how they could use this window of opportunity to end the madness and the war with parents, by eating a little crow, apologizing for the bad behavior and partnering with parents.

I noted that those parents were going to be showing up in DC in just two months, and if AAP was not on board by the time of the Green Our Vaccines rally, then their actions would be seen as empty gestures and public relations maneuvers; and that window would begin to slam shut pretty quickly.

And sadly, that is what happened. AAP did not show up, they merely sent TACA their ‘autism took kit’, which of course is a joke, because TACA is itself an ‘autism encyclopedia’ and should be writing AAP’s literature for them. They again treated us like the red headed step child, the divide between our community and AAP got wider and for all their money and power, AAP has continued to loose the “autism war” to a bunch of broke, stressed out, “Justamoms”, who daily, fearlessly, continue to speak truth to power.

But AAP still does not get that they are in the wrong, and are still under the delusion that if they just find someone with perkier boobs than Jenny McCarthy to become a vaccine cheerleader, then they can turn this thing around. Their tactics keep failing, yet they keep trying the same failing tactics over and over… “this time it’ll work”, they must be saying to each other in their offices… “..because this time we will have FOCUS GROUPS!”

They do not get it.

Rather than stopping the runaway train, they have just increased their speed as they head toward the edge of the cliff… unalarmed by the increasing numbers of parents and physicians quietly disembarking the crazy train.

There is none so blind as those that will not see.

So this brings up a lot of questions.

First off… if AAP was earnest, why would they send the man who invented the Rubella vaccine to present an evaluation on whether or not “his baby” was now giving children brain damage? It was clear when vaccine issues came up that Cooper became uncomfortable, but to his credit, he seemed genuinely impressed with biomed treatment and that he wanted to move forward on it. Did AAP expect him to dismiss all of DAN?

I am convinced that Cooper was earnest in what he said to Kurtz and Kartzinel. Did he make the recommendation to set up a task force to AAP? My BS meter had been pretty finely tuned at that point, and when he talked about treatment, he was sincere as far as I could tell. Unless he is one of those guys that really means it at the time, but really believes something else when he is with a crowd of another persuasion? So if he made these recommendations to the AAP, what happened? Did AAP blow them off? Did Tayloe and Alden put the kibosh on it?

What happened to, “Diagnostic tests, definitions, clear treatment protocols”?

Cooper said, “disease epidemic”. Why won’t AAP say it?

Cooper said that AAP wanted people weaning off Pharma and being good health consumers. And that we represented the best of that. So why are we being demonized? Did doctors want that, until they got it, and then discovered they didn’t like being challenged?

Didn’t AAP want to see the results of the primate study? Or did they use this as a heads up to bury it?

Here’s a biggie: WHAT WAS THE BLUE RIBBON PANEL THAT COOPER CHAIRED FOR GERBERDING, WHOSE RESULTS GOT BURIED? WHY DID HE NOT UNBURY THEM AND USE THEM?

Here is an easy one, “How do we move this forward and get rid of the appearance of combativeness?” I don’t know… stop being combative? Seems like its worth a try.

What were the other reports from the other docs who visited the conference?

And here is the most obvious one. If public trust is so important to the AAP, why are they lying to the public? Why are they crapping on their customers? What exactly do they think will happen if they treat parents with dismissals, insults and really bad PR?

Paul Robinson wrote this:

“Things were proceeding quite well when suddenly Stan had to leave DAN and then he joined G.R. Jenny's continual national attacks brought so much heat on Errol from the AAP's constituency that he had to back away from the whole process. G.R.'s belligerence ruined a very likely alliance and who suffers? the kids! Nice work G.R.!”

If AAP was working with DAN/ARI, then why didn't they just continue working with DAN/ARI? Who the hell cares what Jenny McCarthy was doing? If Stan ran naked through an AAP meeting and Jenny threatened to burn down Chicago just to spite the AAP, who the @#&$% cares!? Either these treatments heal our children or they don’t! Robinson’s argument seems to be that it is OK for physicians to throw children under a bus (and that phrase is only BARELY used figuratively here) if they are offended by a shock/comic actress and a guy who owns a preschool?

I don’t want to completely trash Robinson here, because he seems like he has come part of the way on this (although JB is right, IMHO he should have, and still should, throw down the gauntlet with his brother in law), but Robinson does not seem to understand that he is making the case for us on how corrupt the AAP is. If they don’t like how a few people act, they are allowed to commit malpractice on yours, mine and every child with autism in this country? And say that Generation Rescue made them do it!

And the AAP is shocked when parents are pissed at them? (It takes all my self control not to continue on in a stream of expletives at this point.)

Jerry Kartzinel could not be a nicer, more professional doctor, and he is very widely respected. If they didn’t like Stan any more, they couldn’t call Jerry? Or Lyn Redwood who was on the IACC? Or Jane Johnson at ARI? Or anyone one of the hundreds of really boring, zero drama, non-comic actresses that daily serve children with autism?

Exactly what is the mean age of an AAP member? 15?





“I’m a teenage girl. My BFF texted and said that Jenny said something mean about me. And that’s a problem. Now, I’m emotionally compromised and… whoopsies… I have just inflicted brain inflammation, neurological regression, GI damage and immune system failure on 300 children today. I’m all, OMG… Jenny is a slut”

Have we discovered a new defense for child abuse?

Judge: Billy Bob... you stand accused of hitting your child in with a base ball bat and breaking his arm. How do you plead?

Billy Bob: Not guilty by reason of Jenny McCarthy was mean to me. So I had to take out out on my boy. What else could I do?

Prosecutor: Oh, Your Honor, we had no idea that Ms. McCarthy had insulted Mr. Bob. We drop all charges.

Judge: Case dismissed with the apologies of the Court. Your are free to go Mr. Bob.

If Generation Rescue insults Pakistan, does that mean they are then allowed to nuke India? I need to get a read on just how far the McCarthy defense goes.

I will end the way I have been ending these posts for years. By asking AAP/CDC et. al. WHAT IS YOUR PLAN? How long are you going to drag this out? How far do vaccine rates have to drop, how bad does your reputation have to get? What is “bottom” for you? What is your plan here?

Wise pediatricians… rise up and take back your profession. If not you… then who? If not now, then when? How man thousands of sick children are you willing to watch fall just to keep your job or your seat at the table or your invite to the party?

You are the grown ups… take back the steering wheel.

Katie Wright Takes On Autism Speaks

Katie Wright has officially taken to task the organization that was inspired by her son.

Her message to Autism Speaks is basically the same message that autism moms have been offering to the 'big guys' who say they are looking for a cure for autism for years now:

Put up or shut up.

The American Academy of Pediatrics to Work With Defeat Autism Now in Treating Autistic Children!

This a day I have long been praying for! I cannot express the joy that I have right now!

After years of lip service someone finally did something real!

This is not the end of the war, but it is D-Day invasion. I think it will be marked as the day that changed the direction of the autism epidemic.

Now that the AAP has given their members permission to explore these treatments that are working so well, they are going to get see first hand and be a part of the joy that happens when a little piece of a sick child returns.

I think that I am almost as excited for the pediatricians as I am for the autism community!

If any pediatrician any where, at any time, wants to know anything about my son's story, his regression, his diagnosis, his symptoms, his vaccine reaction, his treatment, his recovery, what worked and what hasn't, what we want to try, what research I have read, ANYTHING, from conception to what happened just now... I will be THRILLED to share with you!

If you are a doc reading this... and you want to start finding out about biomedical treatment, start here:



When my son was diagnosed at age two, he had lost all speech except for two words, neither of which were 'mommy' or 'daddy', and lost all eye contact.

Last Sunday in church, after 4 years worth of medical interventions, he held the door for me for the first time and said, "Here mom, I'll open the door for you"!

And for any docs that are looking for something to do this weekend, come to the DAN! conference in Cherry Hill, NJ on Friday!

UPDATE: April 14th, 2008
AAP has removed one of the paragraph from their press release. Evidence of an internal struggle? The removed paragraph is in bold below.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS RECOGNIZES WORLD AUTISM DAY

For release: APRIL 1, 2008

AAP media contacts: Susan Stevens Martin Debbie Linchesky
847-434-7131 847-434-7084
ssmartin@aap.org dlinchesky@aap.org

CHICAGO – The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) supports World Autism Day (April 2) as a way to bring together groups that are committed to finding the causes of, and successful treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorders, which now affect an estimated 1 in 150 children in the United States. Thousands of children, parents and families are coping with what can be a devastating diagnosis with lifelong consequences.

Pediatricians care for children with autism and their families every day. They are passionate advocates on behalf of these families and recognize that autism is a significant challenge to the health of the nation’s children. Pediatricians emphasize that early diagnosis is critical. The AAP promotes regular screening for autism at the appropriate well-child visits, as well as treatments tailored to meet the needs of an individual child. In 2007, the AAP published the Autism Toolkit, which includes clinical guidance to help pediatricians identify and manage children with autism, to refer them to therapeutic services, and to provide parents with information and resources. The AAP also offers a host of resources for parents on its Web site, www.aap.org.

“We know many parents are searching for answers,” said AAP President Renee R. Jenkins, MD, FAAP. “The AAP has supported research into the causes of autism and will continue to do so.” Pediatrics, the Academy’s peer-reviewed, scientific journal, has included dozens of studies on the associated factors, management and impact of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The AAP recognizes the best way to address the needs of children with autism and children overall is through a partnership among pediatricians, parents and researchers. The AAP has met with leaders of advocacy groups, such as Autism Speaks and the Autism Society of America, which include parents of children with autism. Most recently, the AAP met with representatives of Defeat Autism Now! (a program of the Autism Research Institute) in an effort to facilitate communication between pediatricians, parents and researchers about the diagnosis and treatment of children with autism. All advocates for these children agree that further research is needed regarding causes as well as safe and effective treatment.

“We are pleased the AAP reached out recently to Defeat Autism Now! in order to better understand the treatments and interventions that we have found beneficial to children with autism,” said Stan Kurtz, executive council member of Defeat Autism Now! “We are full of hope that this is the beginning of a thoughtful partnership that will further explore factors that might cause or contribute to autism, as well as examine safe and effective treatment approaches for families coping with this condition.”

[removed paragraph:]
“Autism is a challenge for pediatricians, their patients and families. By working together, we stand the best chance of helping these children to realize their full potential,” Dr. Jenkins said. “The Academy is committed to working with researchers and treatment groups like Defeat Autism Now! to get closer to finding answers to the multiple causes of autism and determining effective therapies.”

For more information about autism, visit www.aap.org.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

The Autism Research Institute (ARI) is a non-profit organization established in 1967 that fosters scientific research on autism triggers as well as diagnostic, treatment, and prevention methods. Through its Defeat Autism Now! program, ARI provides research-based information to parents, clinicians, and researchers worldwide, through its Web site (autism.com), call center, parent groups, conferences, science-based publications, and think tanks. (Press Contact: Autism Research Institute; email: lisa@autism.com)

Webster's New Friend Chandler

So after a less than a month on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet the jury is in. It works for Chandler.



He is talking more, his words are more clear, he answers questions more completely and more quickly, he is more present, more affectionate, more interactive and even more willful. (In a good way, usually he will pretty much go where you want him to. Now for example, if I say, "Let's go to the car, we are going to the store," he will protest, "No. I want bike," as he is putting on his bike helmet.)

This morning Chandler gave his big brother a huge hug before he left to get on the bus for school.

After the bus pulled away, Webster turned to his dad and said, "I love that cute little guy. He's so cute. He gave me a hug. That is the second time he gave me a hug. The first time was when he got home from school that day. Do you remember that day, Daddy".

Then he told his dad all about the day that Chandler first hugged him two weeks ago.

Yesterday I took the boys shopping and they had a blast. I had bought them Oballs at a previous store to keep them happy as I dragged them all over town shopping. Chandler decided to play fetch with Webster. He sat in the cart and would throw the ball, and Webster would run to get it and give it back to Chandler. This was high comedy to them and they kept it up for a half an hour (thank goodness the Target was pretty empty), varying the game to include aspects of hide and seek and tug of war.

It was really fun for me to seeing them enjoy each other so much and giggle so furiously for so long. The game only stopped when mommy got annoyed because she was tired and was supposed to be home an hour ago and "Webster please watch where you are going and stop running into the elderly".

There are those who argue that dietary intervention, or any of the biomedical interventions that parents claim work on their autistic children, are merely normal development plus placebo effect. "Desperate" parents want the child to get better so badly that they blow normal gains out of proportion.

The placebo effect does not work on six year old brothers though. Webster does not know interventions we are trying, he only knows that his brother is acting more like a brother.

Hugs don't lie.

Autism: Hope After Diagnosis

From TACA:

A-CHAMP needs You

From A-CHAMP:

A-CHAMP needs YOU!!!

Passion and Drive alone will not get the work done!

A-CHAMP is a national, non-partisan political action committee formed by parents in support of children with neurodevelopmental and communication disorders. We are dedicated to advancing public policy issues affecting our children, protecting their human and civil rights, educating the public and media, supporting candidates sharing our goals in state and federal elections, and holding accountable those in government who do not act in the best interest of our children.

In our short history, we have successfully:

• Initiated and coordinated state legislative efforts aimed at banning thimerosal from vaccines, achieving success in California, Delaware, Iowa, Missouri, New York and Washington

• Took the lead and forged a collaboration with 50 organizations leading to the passage of an autism insurance reform law that stops discrimination against treatment for autism spectrum disorder. Effective 1/1/07

• Contributed significant background documentation to the Columbia Journalism Review that resulted in an impressive critique of the NY Times and other media coverage regarding the thimerosal/autism controversy.

• Provided information for Robert Kennedy, Jr., contributing to his article “Deadly Immunity” which appeared in Rolling Stone and Salon.com. and Huffington Post op-eds.

• Coordinated The Power of Parents Rally in Washington, DC, October, 2005, gaining support from over 70 other organizations.

• Coordinated The Mercury Generation March and Lobbying Day in Washington, DC in coordination with the DAN! Conference in April, 2006

...and much more.


NOW for us to take on the tough issues for the years to come, we need your help. Our plan includes:

• Acceptance of the biomedical treatments our children need
• Insurance reform to pay for those treatments (state and federal)
• Legislation aimed at respite services and supportive home care
• Environmental research that focuses on vaccines
• Safer mercury-free vaccines and drugs
• Obtaining access to the Vaccine Safety Datalink
• Access to justice and reform of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

How can you help? We need donations to keep working for the children. Whether the donation is for $5 or $5,000, any donation is appreciated.

We have established a donations page on our website through Pay Pal, available at http://www.a-champ.org/donate.html .
If you would prefer to send a check to help continue the work of A-CHAMP, please make check payable to "A-CHAMP" mail it to:
A-CHAMP
c/o R. Krakow
2001 Marcus Avenue
Suite N125
Lake Success
New York 11042.

Your donations are appreciated will make a difference no matter how much or how little you contribute.
Sincerely,

A-CHAMP


A-Champ is a 501 (c)4 Political Action Organization, all donations are not tax deductible.
http://www.a-champ.org/donate.html

On behalf of all of kids thank you!

Probiotics May Cure Colic

Babies with colic often cry for hours, and it's challenge to find ways to soothe them. New research may have found a cure for colic.

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported Tuesday that Jocelyn Levinson knows a lot about colic. She takes care of infants at the Waltham YMCA.

"A lot of the colicky babies tears will come down their face, and it will last a long time -- not just two or three seconds," Levinson said.

That chronic fussiness affects about one-quarter of all babies. There is no cure. Trying different treatments or folk remedies can be a struggle. But a new study is out in the journal Pediatrics about a new treatment for colic.

"It was statistically significant," Children's Hospital Boston registered nurse Lisa Keeler said.

Researchers followed two groups of colicky babies who were breastfed. Half received a probiotic known as lactobacillus reuteri.

"The good bacteria that are found in the intestinal system," Keeler said.

This probiotic is in breast milk, many over the counter pills and yogurts.

"It took almost four weeks, but by day 28 of the study it was a greater than 50 percent decrease in the crying time as compared to the gas drops," Keeler said.

In fact, after a month only 7 percent of the babies, who got Simethicone, or gas drops, saw relief, crying an average of 25 percent less.

But among the babies who received the probiotic, almost all of them -- 95 percent -- were less irritable, and they cried less than half as often as before.

While the probiotic seemed to really soothe the babies, and it is safe, experts said that you shouldn't run out to the drug store and buy it just yet.

"Although those results were statistically significant, the bottom line was that they recommended more research," Keeler said.

They're not sure why the probiotics worked, but the bacteria might boost a baby's immune system and help them cope better with the symptoms. Also, babies showing the early signs of allergies fared well in this study, finding some relief after being given probiotics.

Recovering Children on the Cutting Room Floor

Over the last two years I have heard this story told over and over again by parents. Interviewed by the media about the improvements their children have made using DAN! treatments, but the real story never makes it on the air.

I thought I would share one of these stories.

From Kendra Pettengill:

I just learned a very tough lesson.

When my daughter Keely and I were invited to the DAN conference I also got a call from a TV reporter. He was asked to do a story on Autism by his station, and it was to be big, several minutes worth on two consecutive nights. He wanted to highlight Keely and I and our success story.

He admitted to me he knew nothing about Autism. I sent him a 12 point paper pointing out what I feel are the 12 biggest issues in Autism. I told him straight up that his bosses would never allow him to tell the real story, and the last reporter that did in Texas lost her job. He assured me that they were family owned and he could do any story. I told him that he might be able to tell one of the twelve points, or maybe weave in two of them, but no more than that or it would be confusing, watered down, and wouldn't make the point.

He and a camera man came and spent an entire Saturday at our house. We poured our hearts out to him. I told them every detail of getting the diagnosis, her horrible symptoms, and the prediction of her ending in an institution by the age of 12 or 13. I talked abou how abandoned families are, that no treatments are offered here in Oregon and how we had to go it alone, with help from family only. I told him all about DAN and Keely's horrendous reactions to her vaccines, her near death and then Autism. How we started the GFCF diet and within two weeks she started talking. We then started her ABA program and progress exploded. And he met her, and interviewed her. Both he and the camera man seemed not just shocked by her condition and abilities but she charmed the hell out of them. She was, I can assure you on her A game. I gave them before and after videos as well as her diagnosis including graphic descriptions of her worst behaviors observed during diagnosis.

Dr. Rimland had sent a message that he would do a phone interview with the reporter. The reporter never followed up on that offer, missing a huge opportunity. But the story just aired Wednesday and Thursday nights and Keely and I were not included at all. The reporter apparently ran into the ND crowd in Eugene and gave two nights of fluff stories with people only mildly affected. Despite weeks of advertising this huge piece and two part series titled "THE AUTISM EXPLOSION", the epidemic and xplosion were never even mentioned. Causes, treatment, and especially recovery were not mentioned.

We were sold down the river. He didn't even have the journalistic integrity to tell me we were being left out of the story. Hundreds of people were waiting to see it. I am devastated, but I should have known better. You would not have known what the face of Autism looks like from this fluff. The worst journalism I have seen yet. I have written over 10 letters that friends and family and autism families are sending to KEZI as I cannot send them all in my name.

Keely has worked so hard, she is mainstreamed now in third grade, 100% independent, no pullouts, no aide, making Straight A's. I am so proud of her and how very far she has come. She deserved to be recognized and to help give families hope that recovery is possible and that there are treatments that can make a difference in the outcome of these kids. I cannot believe how ticked off I am.

Here is the information on the station reporter and the two pieces he did.

http://www.kezi.com/content/contentID/15480 (Part 1)

http://www.kezi.com/content/contentID/15492 (Part 2)

KEZI 9 News - Tristan Mcallister

He didn't say anything about Autism. They advertised constantly with this ominous music, "Tune in for our two part special, The Autism Explosion why the huge numbers in Oregon" and then never addressed it. They didn't even say what the numbers are, didn't as why. Just advertised that was the story, then showed two semi-interesting human interest stories.

I found out that he met up with the woman in the first part who is friends with the woman in the 2nd part. Her name is Nan Lester and to many of us in Oregon she is public enemy #1. She is pretty much in the ND camp. She has dictated policy to the local school district and other families are left to live with her view of things or go elsewhere. She interjects herself into anything Autism related in Eugene. She interrupts parents at school meetings and then smooths the ruffled feathers of school officials and tells them that a great job they are doing. I know families in Eugene homeschooling rather than subject their child to the Eugene programs dictated by Nan Lester. [ed. note - in a later email Ms. Pettingill reiterated her opinion of Ms. Lester, but says that her comment that she was public enemy number one, "might have been a little strong".]

The kids in this epidemic are not going to teach art classes or get a drivers license, or get married, nor does anyone have hopes of them being a Senator or President. They put forth a very narrow view of Autism, gave as my own mother said, "Zero information about anything to do with Autism", and left our story of overcoming all the odds and diversity, struggling as a single parent to provide programs for my daughter and having enormous success through biomedical, chelation, and ABA to where we are today, they left our story on the cutting room floor. Hundreds of people were watching to see how they would present Keely and I, and he completely left us out. Apparently causes, treatments, and potential recovery are just too controversial, but fluff is ok.

What a story of hope we could have been to parents not knowing what to do.

If anyone on this list wants to send a little note, send it to kezi@kezi.com.

Thanks everyone
Kendra

Study into Raising Glutathione

Researchers in Texas Launch Autism Study Using Protein Supplement
Wednesday November 22, 1:12 pm ET

DALLAS, Texas, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ - Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and Immunotec Research Ltd. have initiated a study in which a specially formulated whey protein isolate (Immunocal)will be used to raise glutathione levels in an attempt to lessen symptoms of autism.

Autism is a neurological developmental disorder that affects children's ability to socialize normally, impairs language skills, restricts their interests and curiosity and causes other behavioral abnormalities. Most cases are diagnosed before three years of age, and there has been an alarming increase in the number of cases diagnosed over the past two decades. Currently, 1 in every 175 American children is being identified as having autism, and these numbers are on the rise each year. To date, medical treatment of this disorder has been minimally effective.

Although the causes of autism have not been clearly identified, research has suggested that chronic biochemical imbalance plays a role. Studies have shown that levels of the major intracellular antioxidant "Glutathione" is typically about 50% lower in children with autism. Glutathione, which is produced by every cell in the body, is responsible for a number of functions including removing or neutralizing dangerous substances that we are exposed to on a daily basis, including toxic metals. Toxins, pollution, disease, stress, and poor diet can all contribute to loss of glutathione. When glutathione levels reach a critically low degree, we are much more vulnerable to toxins and immune dysfunction.

Principal investigator for this study is Dr. Janet Kern, an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern, which is internationally recognized for its clinical and research programs.

"Some children with autism are poor detoxifiers relative to normally developing children, and in particular, have trouble excreting toxic metals," said Dr. Kern. "Toxic metals that are not eliminated may build up in the brain. Plasma glutathione has been found to be lower in children with autism, particularly, in children with autism who have regressed. We want to clearly establish that raising glutathione levels in these children will improve their ability to detoxify these substances and in that way improve some of their symptoms."

Dr. Jill James, Professor of Pediatrics at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, will be a co-investigator. Dr. James is noted for her landmark studies in autism and toxicology and is among the first scientists to point out the links with low glutathione levels. " We know that Immunocal has been used to raise glutathione in other studies very effectively in areas such as cancer and lung disease. We want to take advantage of this same technology", stated James.

The team will be using a protein supplement produced by Immunotec Research Ltd. near Montreal, Quebec, Canada, called "Immunocal". It is identified by the Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) as a glutathione precursor. Immunotec Research Ltd. has combined rigorous research and business acumen delivering natural healthcare and dietary supplements in 22 countries worldwide.

Source: IMMUNOTEC RESEARCH LTD.

Death of a Hero

Bernard Rimland was one of my heroes.

If not for him I might be called a Refrigerator Mother.

If not for him Chandler may never have answered to his own name.

That he had the courage in the 60's to stand up to the establishment and say that his son had a medical illness, not psychological scars, changed the paradigm and began the search for treatments. And the first treatment that was found, was not discovered by Dr. Rimland himself, but mothers who began writing to him after his book was published to tell him that their children seemed to get better when they were on B vitamins. He listened to them, and Kirkland Labs listened to him, and the first real study on what would help our children was launched.

It was because he freed those mothers from the guilt that their children's disorder was caused by their lack of love that they could start finding a way to help their children.

If there is ANY justice in this world, Dr. Bernard Rimland will get the Nobel Prize.

The Autism Research Institute

UPDATE:

Autism World Loses A Giant: Bernard Rimland

Autistic children and their parents said goodbye to their best friend and greatest champion on Tuesday, November 21st when Dr. Bernard Rimland, founder and director of the Autism Research Institute, passed away at the age of 78.

Dr. Stephen M. Edelson, who is assuming the position of Director of ARI, says, “Dr. Rimland will go down in history as the person who ended the ‘dark ages’ of autism and spearheaded the fight to bring hope and help to autistic children. When he began his work in the field of autism in the 1960s, psychiatrists blamed parents for their children’s autism, institutionalized those children, and ‘treated’ them by drugging them into submission. Today, autistic children receive effective educational interventions and biomedical treatments that bring about dramatic improvement and often even recovery. At every step of this revolution, Dr. Rimland led the way—and at every step, he had to fight tooth-and-nail against an establishment determined to maintain the status quo.”

Dr. Rimland’s forty years of work on behalf of autistic children began with a single child: his own son, Mark Rimland, born in 1956. In the most recent version of the DAN! treatment manual, Dr. Rimland wrote, “Mark was a screaming, implacable infant who resisted being cuddled and struggled against being picked up. He also struggled against being put down. Our pediatrician, Dr. Black, who had been in practice for 35 years, had never seen nor heard of a child like Mark. Neither Dr. Black nor I, who at that time was three years beyond my Ph.D. in psychology, had ever seen or heard the word ‘autism.’”

It wasn’t until Mark turned two that Dr. Rimland’s wife, Gloria, remembered reading in college about children with symptoms like their child’s. Digging through a dusty box of Gloria’s textbooks in the garage, Dr. Rimland saw the word “autism” for the first time. That discovery was the first step in a quest that covered nearly half a century.

Dr. Rimland’s battle to help autistic children began in the early 1960s, when psychoanalysis reigned and professionals believed that autism stemmed from a “refrigerator mother’s” subconscious rejection of her child. Treatments, prescribed by leading authority Bruno Bettelheim and other psychoanalysts, included having children kick and spit on statues representing their mothers.

Knowing that Mark was a greatly loved child and that the “refrigerator mother” theory was both wrong and destructive, Dr. Rimland set out to discover all that was known about autism. He scoured libraries for articles on autism, including foreign articles he had translated, and found, as he noted later, “not a shred of evidence” to support the hypothesis that bad parenting caused autism.

What he discovered, instead, was powerful evidence that autism was a biological disorder—a fact that seems obvious now, but was revolutionary at the time. He outlined this evidence in his seminal book Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior, published in 1964. The book changed the autism world forever: it won the Century Award for distinguished contribution to psychology and, as one reporter put it, “blew Bettelheim’s theory all to hell.” For parents, the nightmare of being blamed for their children’s terrifying disorder was over.

Most people would be content to rest on their laurels at that point, but Dr. Rimland was barely getting warmed up. He’d revolutionized an entire field, but he still had no way to help his own son. So he formed the National Society for Autistic Children (NSAC), now known as the Autism Society of America. Through this group, parents of children with autism—a very rare disorder, at the time—could offer each other moral support and practical advice about which therapies worked and which didn’t.

Dr. Rimland started ASA in large part to promote “behavior modification” (now known as Applied Behavioral Analysis, or ABA), a treatment then being pioneered by a very controversial young psychologist named Ivar Lovaas. Authorities in the autism field scoffed at Lovaas’s claim that autistic children could be helped by something as simple and straightforward as behavior modification, but Dr. Rimland spread the word through NSAC and parents began fighting for this therapy for their children. Today, of course, ABA is the educational treatment of choice for autistic children, and many autistic children who receive early ABA improve dramatically.

Dr. Rimland knew, however, that educational treatments alone could not adequately address a devastating biological disorder such as autism. In 1967, he started the nonprofit Autism Research Institute in order to create a worldwide research center and clearinghouse for biomedical treatments (which barely existed at the time). In 1985, he retired from his career as a psychologist for the Navy to devote the remainder of his life to autism research.

The first treatment Dr. Rimland investigated, based on reports from parents of autistic children, was high-dose vitamin B6. Other authorities in the autism field considered the idea that a vitamin could correct a brain disorder to be preposterous, but time and research proved them wrong. To date, 22 studies (including 13 double-blind studies) show that vitamin B6, typically combined with magnesium, benefits a large percentage of autistic children.

“One of the most remarkable things about Dr. Rimland,” says Dr. Edelson, “is that he realized in the early days that parents held many of the keys to solving the mystery of autism. From day one, he listened to them and respected them—and he followed their lead. If five or six parents reported, ‘DMG makes my child much better,’ he didn’t ignore them; instead, he organized a study to see if other children responded the same way. For a professional psychologist, even one who was the parent of an autistic child, this was a revolutionary viewpoint—and it’s a key reason why ARI has always led the way in identifying new treatments and uncovering the roots of autism.”

One important clue contributed by parents of autistic children put ARI squarely in the middle of a huge controversy: the debate about the safety of vaccines. Early in his work, Dr. Rimland received many reports of children who had no disability before receiving DPT vaccinations. As time went on, the number of reports snowballed, and included other vaccines. At the same time, as the number of vaccines received by children grew, autism rates began climbing relentlessly. When Dr. Rimland learned that most childhood vaccines contained thimerosal—a preservative that is nearly 50% mercury, a powerful neurotoxin—he realized that the escalating numbers of vaccines given to children could be the culprit behind skyrocketing rates of autism. His suspicions grew when he discovered that the symptoms of autism bear many similarities to the symptoms of mercury poisoning.

The medical establishment, not surprisingly, expressed great antagonism toward this theory. They turned a blind eye as well to strong evidence implicating wheat and milk proteins, persistent measles infection in the gut from MMR vaccines, and other environmental factors in causing or exacerbating autism. And they continued to scorn biomedical treatments, even when hundreds and eventually thousands of parents reported that these treatments worked – often dramatically. So Dr. Rimland began yet another new project, this time aimed at quickly identifying causes of autism and promoting the safe and effective treatments that mainstream medicine refused to investigate.

To accomplish this mission he created the Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) project, jump-starting the project in 199- by bringing together dozens of the world’s leading researchers in different fields to create a state-of-the-art treatment plan and prioritize research goals. This small first meeting grew into a worldwide DAN! movement that now includes huge standing-room-only conferences, major research projects, a treatment manual, and hundreds of DAN!-trained physicians. A happy offshoot of this massive effort is the “Recovered Autistic Children” project, in which parents whose children improve or even recover because of DAN!-oriented treatment are spreading the word that “autism is treatable.” Dr. Rimland and Dr. Edelson also collaborated on Recovering Autistic Children, a book of stories about children who improved or recovered as a result of DAN!-oriented treatment.

In addition to these projects, Dr. Rimland served as a technical advisor for Rainman, the Academy-Award-winning film that introduced millions of moviegoers to the world of the autistic savant. As editor of the Autism Research Review International, now in its twentieth year of publication, he also provided parents and professionals with crucial information about autism treatments and research—as well as with his trademark editorials, often scorching in their condemnation of established medicine’s failure to help autistic children.

Dr. Rimland achieved worldwide fame and a reputation as a giant in his field, and his friends ranged from Hollywood stars to national media figures. Yet unlike many professionals, he didn’t know the meaning of an “ivory tower.” In his few free moments each day, he responded to letters, phone calls, faxes, and emails from thousands of distraught parents around the world. His vast network of friends knew him as an extraordinarily generous soul and an irrepressible “yenta,” whose greatest joy lay in bringing strangers together for the benefit of all. He was also a soft touch, incapable of saying “no” to any worthwhile cause—no matter how large or small. (The San Diego branch of the Autism Society was probably the only chapter whose Christmas party once featured an internationally-renowned autism researcher playing Santa Claus.)

How did Dr. Rimland find time to juggle enough huge projects for ten lifetimes, and also help out every friend (or stranger) who needed a hand? He spent seven days a week in his office. Some nights, he slept on the office floor. And everyone who worked with him knew that if the phone rang at 10 p.m., it was Dr. Rimland with another idea – often an earth-shaking one. (Not all of his ideas and interests involved autism. He owned several patents for inventions, and was an inveterate “tinkerer.”)

Dr. Rimland’s remarkable wife, Gloria, gracefully handled his nearly-impossible schedule while keeping a home with three children running smoothly. The autism community owes a huge debt of gratitude to Gloria Rimland for the inspiration and moral support she provided Dr. Rimland throughout the years – as well as her willingness to share her husband with an entire world of “autism parents.” The autism world sends its deep condolences to Gloria and to their children, Mark, Paul, and Helen.

“Our community is greatly diminished by the loss of Dr. Rimland,” says Dr. Edelson. “His legacy, however, will live on in the work of ARI and the DAN! project – and in the joy of families whose children, dismissed as ‘hopeless’ and ‘incurable’ by the medical establishment, are now leading happy, healthy, productive lives. It’s exactly the legacy that Dr. Rimland would want.

____________

A graveside memorial service will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, November 22,
at 2 pm on the Shalom Lawn at Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego. The
public is welcome to attend.

In lieu of flowers, Dr. Rimland's family asks that donations be made to the
Autism Research Institute (4182 Adams Avenue, San Diego, CA 92116).
Donations can also be made online on ARI's website www.AutismResearchInstitute.com.

More coverage:

Bernard Rimland; psychologist 'ended the dark ages of autism'

By Jack Williams
STAFF WRITER
Union Tribune
November 22, 2006


Bernard Rimland, a psychologist whose unremitting quest for answers to
autism opened a new era of treatment and hope for victims of the brain
disorder, died of cancer yesterday. He was 78.

Dr. Rimland, executive director and founder of the Autism Research
Institute in Kensington, died at Victoria Special Care in El Cajon, said
Jean Walcher, a spokeswoman for the family.

In challenging the once-prevailing theory that the condition stemmed from
a mother's subconscious rejection of her child, Dr. Rimland found that
autism was a biological disorder. His evidence was outlined in his seminal
book, “Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural
Theory of Behavior,” published in 1964.

“Dr. Rimland will go down in history as the person who ended the dark ages
of autism and spearheaded the fight to bring hope and help to autistic
children,” said Dr. Stephen M. Edelson, his successor at the helm of the
Autism Research Institute.

As the father of an autistic son, Mark, born in 1956, Dr. Rimland began to
exhaustively research what at the time was a mystery to parents as well as
the medical profession.

In so doing, he once noted, there is “not a shred of evidence” to support
the hypothesis that indifferent parenting caused the disorder.

In 1967, while employed as a Navy psychologist, Dr. Rimland founded his
nonprofit institute a block from his home to create an international
source of research and information for biomedical treatments. When he
retired from his Navy job in 1985, he devoted the rest of his life to
autism research.

“Now I spend 80 hours a week on autism,” he told The San Diego
Union-Tribune in 1998.

“He was the pioneer who changed everything about the way autism is viewed;
parents and professionals owe him everything,” said Chantal Sicile-Kira,
an autism author and activist who has a 17-year-old son with the disorder.

“Bernie was like a god to parents like me,” Sicile-Kira said. “He's
revered all over the world for moving forward biomedical interventions
through research.”

Dr. Rimland created the National Society for Autistic Children, now known
as the Autism Society of America, to bring together parents of children
with autism and to promote a treatment known as Applied Behavior Analysis.
The latter, pioneered by psychologist Ivar Lavaas, has proved successful
as the educational treatment of choice for autistic children.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as
many as one in 166 Americans 21 or younger is afflicted with autism, which
affects children in different ways.

The variety of symptoms include withdrawal from human contact, sensory
confusion, parrotlike speech, a compulsion for sameness and a repetitive
self-stimulating behavior such as tapping teeth.

Sometimes the symptoms are accompanied by extraordinary talents, as in the
case of the autistic savant portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the 1988
Academy Award-winning movie “Rain Man,” for which Dr. Rimland was a
technical adviser.

In the 1990s, Dr. Rimland expanded his influence by co-founding Defeat
Autism Now!, widely known as DAN!, which brought together dozens of the
world's leading researchers in diverse fields to define research goals and
pursue a state-of-the-art treatment plan.

The effort spawned annual conferences on both coasts, major research
projects, a treatment manual and hundreds of DAN!-trained physicians.

Dr. Rimland also reached parents and professionals as editor of a
newsletter, Autism Research Review International, updating readers on
treatments and research.

He was at the forefront of the controversial concept of vitamin therapy to
address autism, particularly high doses of B6. More than 20 studies show
that B6, typically combined with magnesium, benefits a large percentage of
autistic children, according to the Autism Research Institute.

Equally controversial was his suggestion that child vaccines containing
thimerosal, a preservative that is nearly 50 percent mercury, could
promote autism. His suspicions grew when he discovered that symptoms of
autism bear many similarities to the symptoms of mercury poisoning.

“Bernie wasn't afraid to have people say, 'Gosh, this guy's nuts; it's a
crazy idea,' ” Sicile-Kira said. “He felt that if it could be validated by
research it's worth trying so long as it's not going to hurt somebody.”

Dr. Rimland, a San Diegan since 1940, was born Nov. 15, 1928, in Cleveland.

In the early 1950s, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in
experimental psychology at San Diego State College. He received a
doctorate in the discipline in 1954 from Pennsylvania State University.

As a research psychologist in the Navy, he designed tests to measure a
recruit's aptitude for various jobs. In 1955, he became an adjunct
professor in psychology at San Diego State.

When he became a first-time father in 1956, he began to seek solutions and
answers to his son's behavior.

“Mark was a screaming, implacable infant who resisted being cuddled and
struggled against being picked up. He also struggled against being put
down,” he later wrote.

After finding no psychological basis for the disorder in his research, he
devoted his free time to studying neuropsychology in an effort to
understand the physiological factors. His quest led to the manuscript for
“Infantile Autism,” which received the Award for Distinguished
Contribution to Psychology before it was published as a book.

Once the book was published, he was inundated with letters and calls from
parents.

“I will never stop until I have found the answer or die, whichever comes
first,” he told The San Diego Union in 1988. “I will find the answer, and
if living to be 150 is what it takes – I'll do that, too.”

In recent months, as he fought cancer that originally was diagnosed in the
prostate, Dr. Rimland was forced to reduce his workload. By the end of
July, he was doing what work he could from his home.

Survivors include his wife, Gloria; sons, Mark Rimland and Paul Rimland,
both of San Diego; daughter, Helen Landalf of Seattle; and two
grandchildren.

Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. today at Greenwood Memorial Park, 4300
Imperial Ave., San Diego.

Donations are suggested to The Autism Research Institute, 4182 Adams Ave.,
San Diego, CA 92116.

Jack Williams: (619) 542-4587; jack.williams@uniontrib.com

From USAAA:

This USAAA WeeklyNews Special Edition is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Bernard Rimland

by Lawrence P. Kaplan, PhD
Executive Director, USAAA

I first met Dr. Rimland about ten years ago at an autism conference. I never realized at that time how much he would have impacted my life today. After listening to his conference presentation, my wife and I were excited to learn that we were on the right track with biomedical interventions that we had implemented long before many parents started their journey with alternative medicine.

Fast forward to 2004. I sent Dr. Rimland a galley (an unformatted version of a book's manuscript) of Diagnosis Autism: Now What?, my book that would be published in 2005. Two months later, I received a call from Dr. Rimland endorsing the book as well as spending a considerable amount of time discussing the current autism research. It was after having this memorable discussion with Dr. Rimland that I knew that it was time to form USAAA. I just didn't know when USAAA would become a reality.

My last personal meeting with Dr. Rimland was in the Long Beach Westin Hotel restaurant at a DAN conference in October, 2005. He was sitting in a corner by himself, and I asked him if I might join him for a few minutes. We ended up talking for nearly an hour about how he wanted to form a roundtable group of many autism organizations, including USAAA, to strengthen our position in advancing the cause of including biomedical interventions and environmental research into legislation. For me, it was an invigorating conversation with a soft spoken, well respected individual who had done more for autism than anyone else in the last forty years.

That was the last time I spoke with Dr. Rimland. USAAA was officially founded in July of 2005. In almost a year and a half, we have hosted an international conference (last August); we are co-hosting the Autism Vancouver Biennial Congress next March; we publish a weekly email newsletter to over 50,000 subscribers, and; we are embarking on an exciting new research project in a few months. All of this was developed with the support and inspiration from Dr. Rimland.

His memory will be honored and cherished by all of us who were fortunate enough to know him, as well as the thousands who benefited from his creation of the world-renowned (Autism Research Institute).

We, at US Autism and Asperger Association, will not only remember the incredible dedication of Dr. Rimland and the impact he had on all of us, but will continue his quest to improve the lives of thousands of children with autism - bringing relief, hope, and even recovery to families worldwide.